Known air-blowing devices for laying or blowing optical fibers are only capable of laying a certain length of optical fiber for each use of the air-blowing device. When the length of an optical fiber to be laid is larger than that of an optical fiber that can be laid by the air-blowing device in a single use, it is necessary to successively blow the optical fiber having a larger length into fiber receiving tubes of segments of optical-electrical hybrid cables. Each segment of the optical-electrical hybrid cables has a length less than or equal to that of the optical fiber that can be laid by the air-blowing device in a single use.
For example, if there is an air-blowing device which can only lay an optical fiber of at most 500 meters, when an optical fiber of 3 kilometers must be laid, the air-blowing device needs to repeatedly blow this optical fiber of 3 kilometers into fiber receiving tubes of six segments of optical-electrical hybrid cables, each segment of optical-electrical hybrid cable having a length of 500 meters. Firstly, the optical fiber of 3 kilometers is laid into a fiber receiving tube of a first segment of optical-electrical hybrid cable by the air-blowing device. Next, the remaining optical fiber of 2500 meters which has passed through the first segment of optical-electrical hybrid cable is laid into a fiber receiving tube of a second segment of optical-electrical hybrid cable. Next, the remaining optical fiber of 2000 meters which has passed through the second segment of optical-electrical hybrid cable is laid into a fiber receiving tube of a third segment of optical-electrical hybrid cable, and so on, until a remaining optical fiber of 500 meters which has passed through the fifth segment of optical-electrical hybrid cable is laid into a fiber receiving tube of a sixth segment of optical-electrical hybrid cable. The entire 3 kilometers of optical fiber is thus laid.
In the prior art, after the air-blowing device has blown a leading end of the optical fiber to enter an inlet of the fiber receiving tube of the first segment and exit an outlet thereof, an operator grasps the leading end of the optical fiber and winds the optical fiber which has passed through the first segment around an existing fiber disk. The operator winds the optical fiber until laying of the optical fiber in the first segment is completed. The wound fiber is then taken out of the fiber disk by the operator, the fiber is turned 180° over, and the fiber is then wound around the fiber disk again. Subsequently, the operator finds the leading end of the optical fiber and mounts the leading end onto the air-blowing device, the remaining optical fiber of 2500 meters which has passed through the first segment of optical-electrical hybrid cable is then laid into a fiber receiving tube of a second segment of optical-electrical hybrid cable. After laying the optical fiber into the second segment is completed, the remaining optical fiber of 2000 meters is laid into the fiber receiving tubes of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth segments of optical-electrical hybrid cables successively.
In laying a long optical fiber according to the prior art, the leading end of the optical fiber is not fixed in the fiber disk, but rather is freely received in the fiber disk. The optical fiber is extremely likely to become disordered and to be self-wound when the optical fiber is taken out of the fiber disk, turned over, and rewound. Once the optical fiber becomes disordered or self-wound, it may be damaged during the blowing, and the optical fiber may need to be replaced and re-laid with a new optical fiber.